Don't Cross the Road
by Whistling Empathy
Summary: Maka's heels tethered treacherously over the ledge. One step. That's all it took. One step. Maka deals with the pain of losing her mother while Spirit withers away.


**Disclaimer:** as much as I would like I do not own Soul Eater.

Maka's heels tethered treacherously over the ledge. One step. That's all it took. One step.

She looked down as her feet were halfway over the drop. Just one step. She could do it. One miniscule step and she would be gone forever, never having to deal with the pain again.

Her home stood elequently behind her, lifeless. She refused to look back, looking back was equvalent to failure, and Maka had never failed anything in her life. She had packed her bags hours ago, now all she had to do was take the step.

Glancing down at her feet again the distance seemed to grow as she thought of the promises she was about to break.

All her life she was always told, "Never cross the road alone, Maka." Now here she was deliberating on whether on not to set her foot down on the freshly lain black asphalt.

She glanced down the road to see the boys who were playing in the middle of the street. Reckless fools. Didn't they realize they could get mowed down by a car at any moment? Maybe they preferred to live dangerously. They were always in the road playing games, even when the adults weren't supervising.

Maka envied their courage wishing she could set her feet down on the pavement as easily as the boys.

Maka looked down at her beat up suitcase. It had faded a long time ago and the handles had ripped off when some baggage claim workers had tossed her luggage too aggressively down the ramp. Her father had insisted on buying a new one for her, but Maka shook her head. She had chosen this bag with her mother.

Her mother was the one who first told Maka to never cross the road without holding another persons hand, and Maka wondered at the hypocrisy of the words.

She remembered her mother walking out of the house with a suitcase, just like Maka, and walking across the road to the other side, alone. Maka had followed her mother eagerly out of the house and grabbed onto her hand when she stepped down onto the cracked asphalt. Her mother shook out of Maka's grip as she crossed the street alone.

Maka had called after her, but didn't dare follow. She wouldn't break her promise. Her mother crossed the road safely without turning around, even as Maka called after her again and again to come back and hold her hand so she could come too.

There was a yellow car on the other side of the road that was waiting for her, and Maka watched as her mother stepped into the car and shut the door with a firm slam. She never looked back.

Two days later they repaved the roads fixing the cracked asphalt in front of the house. It did not fix the hole her mother had left in her and her father's heart.

She had only packed the essentials she would need to survive grabbing some energy bars, clothes, toiletries, and her entire life savings of five dollars and twenty-three cents.

She had mapped her route ensuring minimum road crossings, but was still left with the one in front of her house. If she could cross this one she could cross them all.

Breathing in and out Maka closed her eyes, trying to step forward. She was stopped abruptly as if she ran into an invisible wall. The unseen barrier of broken promises pushed her back as she attempted to claw her way through. All she needed to do was put her foot down onto the road. That was all she needed to do.

She fell onto her back on the cool sidewalk with her suitcase strewn at her side. Her hands covered her face in frustration. She couldn't do it. She couldn't get away. She was eternally stuck at her father's side as he grieved over the wife he lost and ignored the daughter he kept.

Maybe one day her mother would return in that yellow beast that took her away, and she would pick up her baby in her arms and promise to never leave her again. Then she would go back inside and snap at Spirit for disregarding their child and making the house smell like the bars he took Maka into.

The distant thud of the soccer ball vanished and Maka glanced down the street to see that the kids were gone. The lamplights had flicked on symbolizing her fathers soon arrival. She glanced at her luggage and sighed.

The beat up bag ripped open when she threw it down next to her. Stepping forward, she repacked her survival kit and placed all the items in their right position. It wasn't until she picked up the last T-shirt when she noticed the black coloring of the ground below her.

Her eyes lingered on her feet and then she grinned. Maybe, just maybe she would find her mother first.

**AN**: Whoo! That's over! I wrote this in twenty minutes so don't hate me... I hope you enjoyed it! If so please review!


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